Rival Voices
by Katie24
Summary: This is about two friends who are pulled apart by the thing they love most. They'll have to struggle, compromise and possibly sacrifice to save their friendship, which has been crashed against the rocks. This is my very first fanfic. R&R, but be kind!
1. Default Chapter

The small apartment was cold and there was a bite to the air that made Alexandria wish she had thrown that extra blanket on the bed instead of putting it away in the drawer. As the sun peeked through the narrow break in the curtains, it sent a glare off the glossy red paint and into Alexandria's eyes. The paint on the wall had been so brilliant, so vibrant, only a month or two ago. But now everything in Alexandria's path was cold, dim and dreary. The world had lost its light, and though the sun kept shining, it knew better than to bother Alexandria with its warm rays. Rising, rising...ever-so-slowly up out of the bed, which was low to the ground and when Alexandria threw her hand dramatically over the edge of the bed, it hit the floor. She felt no pain from it, not only because it was not a far enough fall to hurt her, but because she felt nothing. Nothing...except for guilt. As she turned in the bed, she contemplated just rolling over, placing the pillow over her head, and waiting for this day to pass. Then the next day, then the next. She was absent of the feeling that could tell her time had passed, every day blurred endlessly into the next. But she had not felt like this before. Before...Though it was only days before, she felt it had been months, years...As though her whole life should be gone by now. And she wished it had gone. She'd see her friends from time to time, and they would speak lovingly to her, but lately, it had been less soothing and more mindless chatter.   
"Don't you think it's about time you get up and make something more of yourself?"  
"Don't you get bored of lying around all the time feeling sad and sorry?"  
"Dear, there was nothing you could have done. Nothing. So get over this and start again."  
But they didn't know. Sure they had seen it, seen some of it anyway, but what happened behind the curtain, before the curtain was raised, that was what held her sorrow. What happened when only the two of them were watching. The two of them. She wished there were still two of them. Now there was just one. She was doomed to be alone, and though she wanted to move on, guilt plagued her, it followed her, it took the dimension and color from her life. Alexandria. She would say her own name to herself endlessly. Alexandria. And usually more followed...Alexandria, how did you end up this way? Alexandria, why did you do that? Why has everything turned out this way? Alexandria, will you ever be you again? Will you ever move on? I want to move on! I do, but how? How can I when I have done something so terrible. I blame myself, I have only myself to blame. She remembered a song she had heard yesterday:  
"Blame it on the past,   
It's the last place I knew you."   
Then she wondered. Did I know you? Maura...did I know you? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you TELL ME!?! Then, she realized she had been screaming the last words aloud. Maura had been her best friend. They lived together, they shared the same profession, and they shared the thing that took Maura away. They shared a love, for the MOULIN ROUGE. 


	2. Actress Wanted

Author's Note: I started this story a very long time ago with a terrible story in mind. I've revised my ideas for it, and I've decided to continue where I left off, but better. I don't own Moulin Rouge, I don't own the Foo Fighters lyrics I used in the first chapter. Wish me luck!   
  
~~~~~~  
  
It had all started months ago. Alexandria and Maura were both aspiring stage actresses, and one night they had gone out to see a show. They stood outside the theatre when Maura spotted a flier that caught her attention.   
  
She read it aloud: "ACTORS/ACTRESSES WANTED. New STAGE Production of MOULIN ROUGE. Auditions February 20th at THE RED ROOM."   
  
"Alexandria, do you know what that means?!" Maura said excitedly, "Moulin Rouge is finally coming to the stage, where it belongs! And we could be in it!"   
  
Alexandria faked excitement, so as not to disappoint Maura. "Wow, that's great!" Maura looked at her best friend and could see the reaction was faked.   
  
"What's wrong, Alex?" Maura asked, frowning.   
  
"Only one actress can play Satine." Alex bit her bottom lip. They both wanted the part so badly. Moulin Rouge had been their favorite movie ever since it had come out almost five years earlier. The apartment they shared was painted red, and the walls were covered in posters of Satine and Christian, and the Windmill. They knew the lines and songs by heart and had been waiting for a stage adaptation of the film to take place. The time was finally here, and reality had set in.   
  
"That's true..." said Maura, "But I promise, if you get the part, I will be SO happy for you, and it won't change our friendship at all. This kind of thing isn't worth losing a friendship over."   
  
Alex nodded. "Yeah, you're right. This is nothing. We've been through so much together, something like this couldn't hurt at all." There was always the possibility that neither of them would get the part, but that was far, far out of their minds. They knew this was the role they were born to play. And they'd have to go up against one another to get it.   
  
~~~~~~  
  
Maura was childish looking, and acting. She was immature, and wasn't always the first to understand a joke, but she was fun to be around. She was certainly the nicest person Alex had ever met, and it was hard to be mean to her. Maura was naive, and she believed that true friendships could weather any storm. Alex knew better, but she loved Maura too much to tell her the truth. She wanted to believe their friendship would live through this, but the audition was coming closer and closer and the tension was mounting.   
  
Alex would hide Maura's curling iron, throw away her straight pins, take a few stitches out of Maura's dresses. Sabotage, some would call it. Alex knew Maura was a better actress than she was, and she knew that Maura could sing better. But Alex had the charisma. Maura could be shy, at times, and while she could sing extremely well, it wasn't something she displayed for just anyone. Alex, on the other hand, laid out all her talents. She'd bare them and say, "Here is what I've got, take me, or leave me." Sometimes this was a good thing, sometimes it wasn't. She had to figure out a game plan, and with only three days until the audition, Maura was looking more and more like the obvious choice for the part. 


End file.
